Your child could name NASA's Mars 2020 rover

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos:Meet the Mars 2020 rover

In 2020, NASA is sending another rover to Mars, which is expected to land in early 2021. This new rover will provide sights and sounds on the surface of the red planet.

Hide Caption

1 of 12

Photos:Meet the Mars 2020 rover

Equipped with new instruments proposed by researchers around the world, the 2020 rover can give us more details about the composition of the rocks and surface of Mars.

Hide Caption

2 of 12

Photos:Meet the Mars 2020 rover

Supercam will be able to image and analyze samples for chemical composition, mineral content and even study rocks in the distance for possible organic compounds.

Hide Caption

3 of 12

Photos:Meet the Mars 2020 rover

The Mastcam-Z, attached to the mast of the rover, will be able to zoom like a pair of binoculars and provide panoramic and stereoscopic images that allow for 3-D mapping.

Hide Caption

4 of 12

Photos:Meet the Mars 2020 rover

MEDA, which is perched on the deck of the rover, works like a weather station. It can take the temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction and analyze the dust particles in the atmosphere.

Hide Caption

5 of 12

Photos:Meet the Mars 2020 rover

MOXIE will convert the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into oxygen, which could later help astronauts who go to Mars. This might allow them to breathe, and they could also use it for propellant.

Hide Caption

6 of 12

Photos:Meet the Mars 2020 rover

PIXL is on the hunt for microbial life in the ancient past. It can identify chemical elements, see features as small as a grain of salt and take high-resolution close-up images of rocks and soil.

Hide Caption

7 of 12

Photos:Meet the Mars 2020 rover

SHERLOC will use an ultraviolet laser to search for organic molecules and the mineral makeup of any rock or surface it images.